Beginner's Guide on Scanning Negatives

Equipment

• To scan a negative to a digital file you will need to have a laptop or desktop computer, film scanner, carrier trays and an anti-static cloth. You can also use white lab gloves to protect the negatives from finger prints.

Preparing the Negative

• Remove the negative from its protective sleeve and handle the negative only by the edges. Use the anti-static cloth to clean the negative before placing it into the carrier tray. The cloth removes dust and helps prevent dust from collect during the scan process. To protect the negatives only remove one strip from the archival sheet at a time. Negatives are delicate and it doesn't take much for the negatives to become damaged.

Scanner and Software

• The scanner is like a table-mounted digital camera. It uses a digital sensor similar to the type used in cameras. Depending on the scanner and the software included with it, it may provide options for dust removal during the scanning process. Once the negative is placed into the carrier tray, the tray is inserted into the scanner, and the scan commences by pressing the "Start" button in the scanners software.

File and Scan Settings

• Choose the highest resolution setting for your scans. This will create the best quality scan and file for future editing. Selecting the highest resolution will result in a large file and will take up more space on your hard drive, however selecting the maximum resolution will provide you with a digital file that will be as close to the original negative as possible. Save your scanned negative as a TIFF image. Unlike JPEG images that go through a compression stage when they are saved, TIFF files retain all of the information contained in scan. Another benefit is there is no loss in quality with repeated openings of TIFF files. Each time you open a JPEG the file looses a little quality when you re-save it. Save your scanned images as TIFF files, then save edited versions of the original file as JPEG's.